Geographies

Gary P. Pisano

Gary Pisano is the Harry E. Figgie Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He has been on the Harvard faculty since 1988. Pisano’s research, teaching, and consulting have focused on technology strategy, the management of innovation and intellectual property, competitive strategy, and manufacturing and outsourcing strategy. His work on these issues spans a range of science and technology based industries including aerospace, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, health care, nutrition, computers, software, telecommunications, and semiconductors.

Pisano is the author of over 70 articles and case studies. His "Restoring American Competitiveness" (co-authored with Willy Shih) won the McKinsey Award for best article published in Harvard Business Review in 2009. He is also co-author of the award winning article, "Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management" (Strategic Management Journal, 1997), one of the most widely cited publications in economics and business since 1995. His article "How to Capture Value from Innovation: Shaping Intellectual Property and Industry Architecture" (California Management Review) was a finalist for the 2008 Accenture Award. He has also written case studies on such companies as Amazon, BMW, Fiat-Chrysler, IBM, Intel, Jet Blue, Merck, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Vertex, Teradyne, Flextronics, Virgin Group, and VF Brands. He is an author of six books including The Development Factory; Operations, Strategy, and Technology; Science Business: The Promise, The Reality and The Future of Biotech and, most recently, Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance.

Professor Pisano serves as an advisor to senior executives at leading companies throughout the world and has served on the Board of Directors and Advisory Boards of a number of start-up companies. He is a co-founder along with chemistry Nobel Laureate Richard Schrock and others of XiMo AG, a developer of specialty catalysts for the pharmaceutical and fine chemicals industries (www.ximo-inc.com). He also recently co-founded an importer of fine European textiles for the home decoration market (www.viewofcortina.com). He speaks widely at industry conferences and to senior executive audiences. Professor Pisano holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley and B.A. in economics from Yale University.

For years—even decades—in response to intensifying global competition, American companies decided to outsource their manufacturing operations in order to reduce costs. But we are now seeing the alarming long-term effect of those choices: in many cases, once manufacturing capabilities go away, so does much of the ability to innovate and compete. Manufacturing, it turns out, really matters in an innovation-driven economy. In Producing Prosperity, Harvard Business School professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih show the disastrous consequences of years of poor sourcing decisions and underinvestment in manufacturing capabilities. They reveal how today's undervalued manufacturing operations often hold the seeds of tomorrow's innovative new products, arguing that companies must reinvest in new product and process development in the U.S. industrial sector.

Why has the biotechnology industry failed to perform up to expectations despite all its promise? In Science Business, Professor Gary Pisano answers this question by providing an incisive critique of the industry. Pisano not only reveals the underlying causes of biotech's problems; he offers the most sophisticated analysis yet on how the industry works. And he provides clear prescriptions for companies, investors, and policymakers seeking ways to improve the industry's performance. The payoff? Valuable improvements in health care and a shinier future for human well-being. Named Best Biotech Book in 2007 by strategy+business.